Persona 4 Golden Set for November 20th on PS Vita

BREAKING NEWS! Persona 4 Golden, Japan’s BEST SELLING PS Vita game of ALL darn-tootin’ time, finally has a North American release date: November 20, 2012, in stores and via PlayStation Store.

Did you hear that? That’s the sound of millions of Vita owners screaming in joyous union. They know, as you might too (or will soon learn), that when it comes to a deep role-playing game experience with TONS of monsters to slay; Personas to collect and fuse; areas to explore; well-written characters with which to interact and develop bonds; and a terrific, highly memorable story, there is NO substitute.

A random short list of enhancements and additions (in no particular order) we’ve only lightly touched on:

You can now sneak out at night when your uncle Dojima is out at work (which is frequent, as he’s a veteran police detective). Every conversation and event discovered during this time – heck, even the music that plays – is all new. Moreover, many areas, like Shiroku store in the shopping district, serve a different purpose after dark.

You can get night jobs, on top of the clubs you might join after school, that allow you to further advance your character (not to mention roam the city at night without having to hope your uncle is out).

The game now offers a Very Easy and Very Hard difficulty option (in addition to the existing Easy, Normal, and Hard settings).

You can now easily speed through cutscenes and lengthy exchanges (maybe it’s your umpteenth playthrough?) by holding the Triangle button or by double tapping Start.

Load times are ridiculously fast. Almost every load is approximately 3 seconds or less, whether PS Vita game card or PSN download.

The fishing mini-game has been expanded to include new fish, many of which are exclusive to the evening, providing yet another layer of addiction and depth.

[TIRED PR CLICHÉ INCOMING]

…And so much more!

Check out this video walkthrough we did with our friends over at IGN.com to see many of the above points for yourself.

Pre-orders of the physical release at participating retailers will net you a free protective PS Vita skin (while supplies last). For more info about P4G, visit our official site.

Pre-emptive Answers to Likely Comments

Q: Does Persona 4 Golden have a Japanese language option?
A: No, only English text and an English dub are available. We are VERY aware of many fans’ interest in dual language audio, but it is not possible in every project.

Q: Why can’t I find the Solid Gold Premium Edition for pre-order anywhere?
A: Because the entire production run of 10,000 is just about entirely spoken for via pre-order. There may be a minimal number of units made available by retailers near or at launch (held aside in order to avoid oversell situations), but for the most part, it’s sold out.

Q: Is Persona 4 Golden region locked?
A: No.

Q: Perhaps windmills can cool all this P4G demand?
A: WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY. GOOD NIGHT!

” but it is not possible in every project.” This would imply they have actually added dual audio before, which they haven’t….It is very possible, and cheap to do so. Rights for Japanese voice overs are cheaper than creating an English Dub–fact! I realize this game is a part of the PS2 game so obviously it has already been dubbed. But don’t lie to us, lying makes you a worthless company. People have also recommended charging $10 as DLC which Xbox 360 did and it sold very well. I get tired of shotty English dubbing when games native in English have great voice acting. SMH, no sale for me.

” but it is not possible in every project.” This would imply they have actually added dual audio before, which they haven’t….It is very possible, and cheap to do so. Rights for Japanese voice overs are cheaper than creating an English Dub–fact! I

The Dezaegg Vita skin offer is still live and we’re doing our best to source more and more as pre-orders increase BUT there IS a limit and it is VERY possible there won’t be enough skins to accommodate every pre-order, certainly not later ones.

Hi, Aram, thanks to your heads up on the blog last time, I rushed to GameStop & got the Solid Gold edition pre-ordered. It sold out ridiculously fast. My new white Vita will look sweet with the Solid Gold swag. Congratulations on the success of this game.

Omg I can’t wait I per order persona 4 all the way bac in July and still having a hard time waiting omfg anytime I see a blog post that about persona 4 or involved I just have to read :-) I loved persona 3 on PSP I literally spent 175 hours towards completing the game

@Aram,
Didn’t realize that, friends that owned it said otherwise, my mistake. But really that just hurts their case even more when it has been in a game. They sell significantly more copies of games with dual audio, it’s worth the small price of the rights. If there is DLC or a patch that adds Japanese VO, I will snag this–but until then I will enjoy Ragnarok Odyssey and the future Instant Game Collection coming to Vita in November for PS+.
Thank you again for a reply :)

We’ve had projects where the cost of licensing the original audio was GREATER than the ENTIRE cost of the new English dub. Rest assured that if it was just a hurdle-free “small price,” you’d see the option on more of our titles.

Hello, Aram.
Can you say anything regarding Europe release of the game? Because I’m troubled right now – whether should I import a copy from USA or wait till the release in my region. If the game will be released months later in Europe, then I’ll most likely just import the game instead of pointless waiting. At least a date to look forward to would be nice to know.

Of course Canada received copies; both Amazon.ca and EB Games received a portion of the 10,000 unit production run.

Demand was, simply put, overwhelming. In the case of the latter of the above, for example, sales occurred so quickly that pre-orders were never activated in stores; all copies were claimed via online orders.

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news — and that’s an unintentional Teddie pun, I should add — but I believe both retailers are essentially out of stock.

Allocation of 10,000 units was handled based on sales histories and trends. The percentage of copies allocated to participating Canadian retailers represented a percentage of the total launch similar to allocation here in the States.

Retailers, just like us, were overwhelmed by incredibly high demand. We’re sorry for your frustration.

Hey Aram,
Thanks for the update. When I saw the facebook post regarding the release date, I died a little. This is essentially the reason I got my playstation vita. And in all honesty, I don’t have any complaints. You guys have worked around difficulties, hassles, and impatient fans, and still come out on top. Needless to say, those that were not able to snag a Solid Gold Edition, my condolences. I’m looking forward to mine. :P Also, Canada did have them, although we only had them online and not for instore pre orders, which was a shame but there were work arounds. Thanks for all the work you’ve put into marketing this game, and looking forward to hearing more from you in the future. :D

There are no plans for digital bonuses, but it is something we have explored and re-explored. Hopefully, as more and more opportunities for digital bonuses become available, we’ll have more avenues to explore and ultimately execute upon.

We WERE the first publisher (or among the first) to include a full PSN version of a game (Yggdra Union for PSP) with physical AND digital purchases of Knights in the Nightmare for PSP.

Persona 4 Golden is on track to fall into the highest echelon of MegaTen/Persona games in terms of overall sales (and in Japan, it is already the bestselling game on the platform EVAR).

We’re still a small publisher who manages to stay alive through responsible, efficient product launches and inventory management, but finding a physical copy of the standard release of Persona 4 Golden shouldn’t be a problem at launch.

Of course, with tech-laden platforms like the Vita offering a vibrant digital storefront as well, folks can always just snag a copy via the PlayStation Store.

Hi, again, Aram, I’m just checking back & see that you left me a very nice post. It’s like a late birthday gift, :-)
Thank you.

I guess then I won’t say I’m mad @ Atlus for making a “very easy” mode which is no doubt aimed @ my poor JRPG skills, lol.

To all the disappointed, Aram warned us it was just 10,000. Some of you had the nerve to question his veracity as a marketing ploy. Since as long as I’ve been on here he hasn’t hoodwinked us at all, so I rushed to GameStop that first day, when it wasn’t even on Amazon, & pre-ordered the Solid Gold. Early bird gets the CE, as they say.

I hope you sell many many copies and make a ton of money to use for future games.

But underestimating the demand for the limted edition and boning Canada is just not right.

Within hours of the announcement of the special edition it was up on Amazon and EB US sites (and was available for sale for days, didn’t sell out ver fast), however it took forever to even show up in Canada and by then it’s sold out…